NRL: Surgery delays Eastwood's return

New Zealand's Greg Eastwood is tackled during a Four Nations test match at Eden Park. Photo / Richard Robinson

Kiwis international Greg Eastwood's return to the National Rugby League (NRL) action with the Bulldogs is on ice after the utility forward required surgery on both wrists.

The 23-year-old is expected to sidelined for the first six rounds of the 2011 season after procedures undertaken shortly before Christmas have left him with both hands in plaster.

Eastwood, who re-signed for the club after an English Super League stint with Leeds, complained of soreness in both joints when starting training in December - the legacy of breaking his left

scaphoid bone representing the Kiwis in 2009 and the right while playing for Leeds last March.

Scans revealed both wrists had failed to heal properly despite being operated on at the time.

A club spokesman said Eastwood, who was involved in the Kiwis triumphant Four Nations campaign last November, could have played on but would have risked further complications this season and possibly arthritis later in life.

- NZPA